Sonic Rush 3: Unification
by HaHakaiKai
Summary: What was once a sunny day on the beach for Sonic quickly turns into a cross-dimensional adventure, as he encounters the powers of Sol for the third time. Secrets get revealed, chaos is had, and an unknown fate for both dimensions.
1. Stage 1

Act 1:

It's a beachside sunny day, the seawater crisp and blue, clear skies and a gentle wind. Such peaceful weather could not be any more picture perfect. Especially for a certain blue hedgehog. Sonic was enjoying the sun, sitting in his beach chair with shades over his eyes. Tails was with him relaxing as well, messing with the sand.

"Hey Sonic," spoke up Tails, "It's getting about that time of day, want some chili dogs?"

"You bet buddy, I was just about to ask myself." Sonic replied, pulling off his shades.

Tails gets up off the ground, "I got it, be right back."

Sonic hops up from his chair, stretching out followed by a sigh of relief. "That was great, such a perfect day to take a break from things." Sonic then zips around, making a large version out of himself out of the sand, clapping his hands together to get the sand out of his gloves, "Glad that Egghead decided to take a break today too, this is just too good to pass up. But all things considered I should settle down like this more often, it'll do me some good." Sonic runs over to Tails, at the stand he's waiting at, "Hey bud, get us a couple of Chocolate Chip Sundae Supremes, i'll pay ya back later. This is totally an ice cream day."

"Sure thing Sonic, I like the idea myself." Tails replies.

"Thanks man," Sonic then runs back to the little set up, "can't wait for some of that." Sonic then notices something off within the wall of trees further inland, he decides to check it out. He doesn't have to go far though, a few yards in a find something extraordinary. A white, glowing, astral, crack in the very ground itself, a tree slightly listing into what sees the bottomless void the seem opens into. Sonic walked up to the edge, looking into the gaping hole, pondering what it was. Suddenly, some more of the earth eroded away into the void, Sonic's footing slipped and he fell inside, the tree loses its ground and falls in as well in it's entirety.

Tails returns to their spot on the beach, items in hand only to find Sonic not there. "Where did Sonic go? He never disappears if he knows there's gonna be food."

It's an absolutely horrid day, storming non stop. Lighting, rain, typhoons over the seas, the works. Everyone is inside, trying to ignore gloom of the environment. Blaze is taking this as an opportunity for relaxation. Due to the weather the subjects do not come to the keep, and the princess uses this time to catch up on needed alone time, as per normal. She heads to the personal access to the major vault. Heading down a spiral flight of stairs, holding a flame in her hand. She reaches the vault itself, retrieving a case, then she returns to her private quarters. Opening up the case reveals the Sol Emeralds in their entirety. She places them around herself, then sits on the floor, legs crossed, meditating, syphoning her connection to the emeralds. The emeralds rise up and float around her. She says to herself in a quiet voice. "The breath is the seven Sol. Sol is the flame enriched by the heart. The controller is the one that lights the Sol a blaze." Unfortunately, her meditation is interrupted. The ground opens up beneath her without her knowing. Before she could react, the crack to the void swallows her into the abyss, and with her, the Sol emeralds follow. She screams, but is not heard. No one knows what happened to her, in fact, no one knows anything happened in the first place.

* * *

Act 2:

"Whoooah!" Sonic goes shouting, falling down until he finally faceplants on a patch of grass, seemingly alien to the white abyss. Except, upon getting up and looking around, the white abyss is much more. There is a pink and yellow hue in the sky, pulsating and reconstituting. All attributed that ring familiar to the blue hedgehog. Then the sudden realization. CRASH! Sonic jumped out of the way of the tree that fell in after him. On the surface of, wherever he was. There was only patches of green ground. Some small, some larger. Trees sprouting out of random places, not necessarily on the grass. None of it was reminiscent of what the skies above reminded him of. But none the less, what was up there was irrefutable. "This has got to be the void between dimensions, the same one I was in when Blaze and I fought the Egghead duo for the first time." Sonic then noticed, a crack in the sky, and out it was Mobius, and the star-lit void of space. "What in the world is going on here…?" Sonic then noticed strange surges of energy coming from the distances, a great light coming from it. "I better go check it out." he says to himself, running off to investigate. Upon reaching what he saw, coming to a stop. The surging energy seemed to create a wall that went infinitely in all directions. Despite that, Sonic ran at it, only to be bounced right back into a tree. Then he tries going up, he runs up the trunk of that very tree. But he only hits the field again. Then, seeing down along the contour of the field, a series of beacons in the distance. "Hmm, maybe those things have something to do with this. There might be something on the other side that's important to all of this." Sonic then runs off to investigate.

Despite her not knowing how this came upon her, it all being complete surprise. Blaze lands on her feet, and wastes no time trying to assess her situation. "Whatever sick game this is to capture me or the Sol Emeralds this is, I want succumb to it. I have the emeralds with me so I can simply return to my castle and inform the guard of my misfortune." Blaze picks up one of the emeralds from the ground around her but then realizes something is wrong. "Wait, this isn't right… I feel no power. Why? Why are the Sol Emeralds inert here?" She looks around, "I must find the cause of this. If I don't, I may be trapped here way longer than I fancy." She then runs onward in search of what she did not know, only knew what if she found it. Eventually she ran into an energy field, fluctuating violently. It appear as if the world on the other side were distorted. All she knew is she could not pass through. Taking in everything she could to try and get bearings on where to go next, she noticed a blue streak go past on the other side of the field, too fast for her to catch what it was. Nonetheless she noticed where it was headed, and quickly followed suit. "Whether or not that was could help me is not important right now. What's important is it's going somewhere that may be of importance, and that is all I require. I shall free myself from the mess in no time at all."


	2. Stage 2

Stage 2; Act 1:

Sonic had been running for quite a while now, not seeming to come any closer. However, he finally came across something odd. There was before him a metallic dome protruding out of the ground that extended to both sides of the field, which behaved the most stable in the immediate area around it. There was also a small opening within the orb which went to both sides. Inside it, Sonic couldn't tell what, but decided to pull it out. It shocked him but he did pull it out. "A Chaos Emerald? No… They were all at Angel Island, I checked before me and Tails went out." He looked at it from all sides, "It's a forged one. I can tell, it's a little discolored." Then he noticed that by removing the fake emerald had caused the field to become unstable around the orb. "Hmm, These things must be important…" Sonic said to himself, "And if I didn't know better i'd say this belonged to a certain Redcoat I know…"

"Good guess hedgehog, I had a feeling you'd be here when I noticed the power source was removed."

"Well well well, if it isn't the Eggmeister himself, what the heck are you doing here of all places?" Sonic snarked.

"That's none of your business Sonic. You shouldn't even be here." Eggman replied.

"Is that so?" Sonic questioned, "If you don't want me to know then there must be something going on. Something big. Maybe I should be a little more persuasive."

"Don't you dare…"

"What if I do?"

"If you do, you'll only ruin things for yourself."

"Sounds interesting… Doin' it!" Sonic smashes the orb. The field becomes extremely distorted, Sonic quickly gets away from it.

"No! Sonic you bafoon! Now it's all ruined. Stability is failing!"

"Well it's your fault, you wouldn't tell me why I shouldn't."

"Well you're not gonna know, hedgehog. Not until the typical final confrontation where I then reveal my entire plan to you."

"Yeah, like any other time?"

"Except this time Sonic, you won't live long enough to stop me! OH HO HO HO HO HO!" Eggman then starts maniacally coughing rather than laughing.

Sonic shrugs, then kicks the Eggmobile causing it to fly away, then swiftly chases after it.

Blaze, while not sure what she was chasing after, was certain she was getting close. She had a good feeling about what she was getting herself into. Eventually, she noticed a place where the field was wildly distorted, even a hole through it. "Hmm, it's small, but I can pass through here. This way i'm sure to find whatever it was I saw." Blaze manages to crawl her way through, although seeming to struggle about half way through, as if something were dragging her back. She forces herself through, but upon looking behind herself she notices that the Sol Emeralds did not follow her through. They are trying to follow her but when the field makes a large fluctuation they all shoot away in different directions. She attempts to dive back through to retrieve them but the opening closes up too quickly. "No!" Blaze shouts, "Not now! I can't lose them now! Not again!" She pounds the ground with a burning fist. "Damn it, now the Sol Emeralds are lost and powerless in this place… I have to get them back, but how? I don't know if i'll get another chance to cross this barrier." She gets back up onto her feet, "I must continue my search for that blur. He may very well be the cause of that opening." With that, Blaze continues her pursuit of the blur. Now on the other side of the field, she has set herself up for something she's not entirely expecting. But then again, no one was expecting this.

* * *

Act 2:

Sonic had decided to chill for a bit, taking a slower pace about things. As he walks along he contemplates to himself about the current situation. "What could Egghead possibly be doing here? What did that little machine do and why was he so protective of it? Not that he acted upon it anyway… Normally I could somewhat piece together his harebrained schemes, but this time, there's not enough substance here to figure it out. He probably wants to keep it that way. All I can figure out is this quote-un-quote sky we have here, looks too much like… What'd ya call it? That strange, place, I fought both Eggheads in… The first time anyway, me and Blaze…" Sonic then gets a little sidetracked from his conversation with himself, "You know, I kinda miss her. She was a great friend and we worked so well together. Heh, obviously she needed a little help in the social skills department but I guess being a princess might do that to you… What was I saying? Oh yeah, but, if this WAS that place that i'm reminding myself of, then that would mean the dimensions are in danger again." Sonic shakes his head, "I thought Eggman would've figured it out this time, the two sets of emeralds cannot coexist. I'm not sure why really, but it's how it works. So trying to conquest both dimensions by using both sets simultaneously just isn't gonna work. So honestly, I don't know what he's up to, but that's my best guess." Sonic thinks for a moment, then has an idea. "Well, considering he hates it when I wreck his toys, i'll just keep it up. That'll stop whatever he's doing for sure!" Sonic then runs to find more of the orbs to destroy. "Hmm… But one thing just doesn't sit well with me, assuming this is some kind of dimensional game… How come I haven't seen her yet? Blaze wouldn't be far if it were something like that-" a loud burst from behind Sonic quickly alerted him.

Blaze never stopped going full on, she was determined to find out what was going on. She had gotten a glimpse of something ahead of her and double-timed it to catch up. It began trying to shake her off, moving around in sporadic directions. But Blaze stayed on, using the distribution of trees to gain the advantage. She couldn't catch eye contact for more than a split second before she had to close the gap again, but then she saw her opportunity. She leaped to a tree at a corner, and manages to jump down at her target stopping it in it's tracks.

"Ow!"

"You're not going anywhere, what's going on here?!-" Blaze then realized what it was, who it was. In the heat of the moment she had no idea, didn't have the time to think about it, but now, "Sonic?!"

"Blaze?" Sonic replied.

"What are you doing here?!" They both said in sync.

"Well this confirms my suspicions…" Sonic said.

"What might that be?" Blaze inquired.

Sonic simply points upwards. "See for yourself."

Blaze was awestruck, wondering why she didn't notice before. "This, can't be…"

"Hey, Blaze, great to see you again and all, but could ya please get off?"

"Huh?" Blaze then looked back at him, quickly jumping off, "Sorry about that, umm, I had to assume the worst you know…"

"It's fine, calm down." Sonic said, "So, how'd you end up here."

"I was in my room at the castle, minding my own business, next thing i knew I was falling into this white void. Then I assume I saw you run by opposite side of that field from me, and then later I found a way to pass through. But the Sol Emeralds were with me when I got brought here, but they dispersed when I tried to pass through to your side. Now I have to find them all again but I have no way of getting back across."

"Well, this is a predicament. Is it a danger is they're retrieved by someone else?" Sonic asks.

"Well they are inert at the moment. They seem to be powerless here." She explains.

"Then those must have been fake Chaos Emeralds like I thought. The two sets work almost identical, if yours doesn't work then neither should mine. Good thing the Chaos Emeralds are still in my world."

"Well what have you found Sonic?" Blaze asks in return.

"Well Egghead is behind this, and sense both our dimensions are involved, Eggman Nega is probably here too."

"A logical assumption. But what would they be doing here, assuming that this is, 'that place.'"

"No idea, that I still have no clues to." Sonic replies, "But, It shouldn't be hard to find out. There are these machines that seem to hold that field between our two sides up. Maybe if we wreck enough of them, we'll stop what he's up to."

"Sounds like a plan, where do we start?"

"Um, actually I don't know… You kinda chased me away from where I was going… This place all looks the same."

"You can't mean, we're lost?" Blaze asks, a little nervous.

"Um…"

"Oh dear no… Damn it Sonic! Why'd you get yourself lost?!"

"Why is it my fault, you were chasing me, I thought you might be dangerous. I don't think that far ahead."

Blaze takes a heavy sigh, "Well, perhaps this is as good a time as any to take a small break. While, there is a small bit of urgency it'd be foolish to be running around any less than level headed."

"Good idea, besides, we have some catching up to do."


	3. Stage 3

Stage 3; Act 1:

"So let me get this straight," Blaze said, "There is a black hedgehog that looks like you coincidentally named Shadow, you been a werewolf, met small aliens that gave you special powers when you, absorb them? You met me one time that I do not recall, at a place i remember nothing of, and on top of all that you had an adventure in two different books, one of which I was depicted as a knight, you saved 'my' life, and then promptly became the king there by prophecy because you pulled a talking sword from a rock…" Blaze was asking Sonic, sitting across from him. The two were explaining to each other what they had missed over the time they had been apart and Sonic had just finished recapping his travels.

"That about sums up the important stuff, yeah." Sonic replies.

Blaze just stares blankly for a second, "What goes on in your world?"

"I don't even know sometimes, I just roll with it."

"Certainly more than what I've had to deal with, Eggman Nega hasn't been able to do his work since the royal guard has been keeping in safety any spare resources."

"Gosh y'all deal with your Eggman so seriously, he's a joke." Sonic leans back, arms behind his head, Nine times out of ten even after he's finished the bulk of his plan and I still kick his butt. Why should yours be any different?"

"Well the few times i've had to deal with him is because of when the dimensions were in danger. We haven't really let him get away with anything before then."

"... You don't get out much do you?"

"Not at all… Our last adventure was very much the extent of it."

"Speaking of which, how's Marine, she still got the boats?"

"Oh, Marine was still very much Marine last I saw her. She visited once, considering she is my friend, but she didn't quite like being at the castle and requested that if I wanted to see her that I go to the island, even said to consider it a vacation."

"Well have you?" Sonic asks.

"I've considered it, but between being among the royal guard of the castle or a rambling raccoon, i'm weighing my options."

"Oh come on Blaze, just because she talks a lot doesn't mean she's a bad girl."

"I never said otherwise, but you've experienced her as well, it's no wonder you took the jet ski over the actual ship when you could, and you never liked the sub."

"Hey, I did that because it was fun. Nothing else, the sub was just cramped."

"It honestly was, i'm happy we didn't use it often."

"I offered you the chance to get on with me."

"You were crazy! I could've fallen in if I rode with your crazy riding."

"Oh come on, that hurts."

"Don't kid me Sonic, you know you're a daredevil."

"Well can't argue there." Sonic said rubbing his ear. "Honestly from what you're describing, you could use the time off."

"Trust me Sonic, adventuring with you is more than enough time off."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

Blaze chuckles a little, "It was to begin with."

"Well that's new. You actually can lighten up."

"Continue that thought and I will light you up Sonic…" Blaze said about ready to burn his tail for that remark.

"Okay, okay, jeez… I meant it in a nice way."

"Well, I really have been taking to heart the advice you gave me when we first met."

Sonic sat up, "Huh?"

"Remember, you told me that friends make it all better and that I shouldn't carry so much on my own shoulders. I thank you for that, you and Cream were my first friends really."

"Well, thanks, that, means a lot…"

The two then sit in an awkward silence for a minute, due to the direction the conversation was headed.

"Sonic, might I ask something a little personal?" Blaze inquires to break the silence.

"Uh, sure, I guess?"

"Um, have you and, uh, who was it, Amy gotten anywhere with…"

"With what?"

"Well, have you two actually gotten together like she would constantly go on about."

"What? No! She's my friend yes, but I have no interest in her like that. Sorry, was she accusing you of, well ya know."

"When we first met, yes."

"Typical…" Sonic said crossing his arms, "Uh, and why do you ask?"

"Oh! Well, no particular reason… I, just was curious…"

"Okay then… Well I think we really should get going now, if we don't start now we're never gonna get around to it."

"Agreed," Blaze said, getting back to her feet. "We mustn't let whatever it is they're doing happen. It is for the safety of both our worlds."

* * *

Stage 3; Act 2:

Blaze was following behind Sonic as the two were searching for more spherical pods, she was more so in her own little world then paying attention to what was going on. _I don't get what came over me earlier,_ she thought to herself, _It was hardly my business to know and yet I asked anyway. I'm a princess, I know not to make other's private affairs my business… I best not overthink it, I don't quite like where this is going._

"Blaze…?"

 _Huh?_

"Blaze pay attention!-"

Blaze slammed into a tree before she got out of her spaced out mode. Sonic walked up to her and pulled her back up.

"So much for a cat's gracefulness."

"Oh how funny Sonic, though i'm sorry, I kinda spaced out there. I have a lot on my mind." Blaze said apologetically.

"No need to be sorry about it, but if it's distracting you that much, care to talk about it?"

"No! I mean, no thank you. It is something that I shouldn't share, at least not now."

"Well okay, but it is a good idea to share when you're stressed."

"I know that, it's not the first time you've told me." Blaze walked ahead of Sonic, "Come on then, we should stop too long just over my blunder." Blaze then bursts off in a roar of fire, Sonic quickly follows.

"Hey Blaze!" Sonic shouts.

"Yeah? What is it?"

"What do you suppose we'll find when we get to the real setup that the big guys got?"

"I don't know, I would certainly hope not my Sol Emeralds, sure they may be powerless here, but just the idea of him having them is an insult to my family name."

"Your family name?"

"Yes, Sonic, my family has been guardians of the Sol Emeralds for centuries, they are a point of great power and of even religious prominence. They are of great value to my people, and to me. However, i'm the first of all my kind to know their true power and purpose. That they and subsequently we are a polar opposite to your world, like a magnet. That there is much more to it all than meets the eye. No one other than myself knows for if they were to it would disrupt everything."

"Wow, I can see why when this whole cross dimensional thing started you were shocked."

"Indeed, I was, finding that almost everything I was taught as a young girl was a lie, maybe not on purpose, but none the less incorrect information passed down for years and years. Finding that out on such short notice can really change your views on everything."

"I can understand that, I didn't know about any of that. So your parents were guardians like you?"

"Yes… Although… I didn't know them for long."

"Oh," Sonic said, "Sorry, I shouldn't have went there."

"No, it's alright Sonic." Blaze replies, "I've gotten past that a long time ago. The Sol Emeralds always felt like I was carrying a piece of them with me… Though, the elders always said I had an, abnormally strong connection to them. I don't understand why."

"Wish I could tell ya, but honestly, I don't know that much about the Chaos Emeralds, much less yours."

"And I wouldn't expect you to, I was just bringing it up because of relevance."

Eventually they run up upon another device in which Blaze is about to take out when, "Afraid not dearest princess, when Doctor Eggman told me that Sonic was here, I just had to prepare defenses, and I knew you'd be along. You always are. So I took it upon myself to get in your way while he prepares the big one."

"Eggman Nega, I knew you'd be here as well," Blaze said, "and what is this big one you're talking about?"

"You'll find out soon enough, that it unless you fail here."

"Yeah? I doubt that," Sonic interjected, "You can't take on the both of us!"

"We shall see hedgehog, we shall see…"


	4. Stage 4

Stage 4; Act 1:

Eggman Nega's floating pod made one big whir as it sprouted out two claw arms with a blue emitter on either one. "Get a load of this you two!" Eggman Nega says, the two arms slamming the ground. A shock wave of blue energy coming out from them, Sonic and Blaze jump over it easily.

"This again Nega? You're so predictable." Blaze said, "You're not getting me with that."

"And what might 'that' be Blaze?" Sonic asks.

"He likes to use freeze rays to try and weaken my powers, he only ever got me once, it's not working more than that!" Blaze runs at the mech, using a burning spin at one of the arms. The kickback sends the mech spinning out of control for a moment.

"Seems simple enough then." Sonic starts spinning in place.

 _What in the world is he doing?_ Blaze thinks to herself, running at the mech again. She hits the other arm knocking it back again. "It seems you just can't hit me anymore, why not give in now?"

"You wish princess, I've got more up my sleeve." Suddenly the other arm slings around, hitting Blaze hard to the ground.

Blaze tumbles back towards Sonic, getting back up onto one knee, "Okay Sonic, what in the world are you doing? I may be able to take him but you could at least do something!"

"Almost…" Sonic then glows brightly in blue, "Ready! Go!" Sonic then dashes faster than even Blaze could've seen, just appearing to be a bolt of light, hitting one arm of Nega's mech, then directly to the other, then smashes into the mech itself before landing on the ground, Sonic merely brushes himself off,"Too easy."

Blaze, not sure how to react just looks at him, "What was that..? You never did that before."

"Never needed to," Sonic replies, "Just felt like it. Light speed attack, I think that speaks for itself."

"Indeed it does…" Blaze says in return, "Well I suppose that takes care of that-"

Blaze didn't get to finish her thought before something else arose before them. "OH HO HO HO HO! Too bad for you! Thanks to the illustrious Doctor Eggman, I have been given access to many of his schematics, and this one here caught my eye. Behold, The Egg Dragoon!"

"Egg Dragoon?" Blaze says, "I assume this is something you've dealt with before."

"You wouldn't be wrong," Sonic says back, "But, I'm missing the resources to take it on here."

"What do you mean?" Blaze asks him a bit worried, "What could you possibly need?"

"Higher ground for one thing!" Sonic says jumping back away from a giant drill. "Kinda important, the only weak point on this thing is where the pod sits, and It's gonna be hard to get up there."

"Well then," Blaze says, "We have a predicament here."

* * *

Stage 4; Act 2:

Sonic and Blaze aren't able to spend much time conversing on a plan when Eggman Nega is wasting no time to keep them busy. Blaze lands next to Sonic and runs beside him for as long as she can, "Sonic, I have an idea. We'll use the surrounding trees, you jump off of those, and I'll give you one more boost, that should get you enough height."

"Sounds like it'll work, let's do it." Sonic then runs ahead to separate once again. He runs up the side of a tree, jumping off the highest he could.

Blaze then jumps up, boosting Sonic higher up. Sonic then homes onto a wing of the Dragoon, followed by jumping into the pod itself, knocking it a little loose. The Egg Dragoon, shakes Sonic off and gets some distance, shooting the drill at Sonic and Blaze again.

"Well that worked nicely, come on, we got this." Sonic ran ahead of Blaze, boosting up to the Egg Dragoon again, "Wait a second, got it!" Sonic jumped onto the tail of the Dragoon, bouncing and homing up and up until he once again hit the cabin. As he's heading back to the ground, "Blaze, get it one last time!"

"You can't escape me, Nega…" Her body becomes surrounded in her own flames, "Take this!" She shoots a flame burst from herself at the Dragoon, when it hits, the pod is sent flying.

Sonic runs back up to Blaze, "Good job, I forgot how good we work together."

"Quite, we do make a good team, now let's get back to that machine." The two began to backtrack their way to the spherical machine Eggman Nega was protecting. "How many of these devices do you suppose there are Sonic?"

"Depends on how important they are, if they're really important there are probably a lot of them. But I wouldn't know either way."

"Doctor Eggman, the two pests are definitely here and are becoming an increasing problem." Eggman Nega reported in from his pod over the comm. "They are without a doubt targeting the Dimensional Integration Devices."

Eggman's image fizzling on the comm screen, "That is a predicament. Both their entry into this bridging realm was not factored in entirely. I suggest upon next encounter we expel them both, I don't care where they end up. We need to remove them from the equation at least temporarily."

"That is something I can handle, keep the work up on your end. Out."


	5. Stage 5

Stage 5; Act 1:

Sonic and Blaze walking together, taking a little bit of a break. "We've certainly made progress, how many have we taken out?" Blaze asks Sonic.

"Five, give or take… More importantly, how long have we been here?" Sonic replied, looking at the ground.

"You are quite impatient Sonic… What's your mind on?"

"Well just that anything could be happening at home? How are you not worried?"

Blaze thought for a moment, "My main concern is the Sol Emeralds, there are many at home that can handle anything else."

"Isn't that a little, insensitive?" Sonic asks.

"Pardon? It's merely my job, is it wrong for that to be my primary focus?"

"Well, no." Sonic says, stopping her. "But, it surprises me that you can't think of others as well."

"I do too think of other people… Just, I don't often have other people considers my feelings."

"Well that's not completely alien to me. But why?"

"Well," Blaze says, "It honestly comes with the job, being princess I mean. To be fair you were among the first to actually give concern."

"Obviously, I care about everyone."

"It became who I am, I never needed to accept anyone's concern, and in turn I tended not to give any out. I keep to myself, that's all I need to justify myself."

"Shesh, didn't think it'd get that sensitive."

"My life is complicated."

At the time of their little dispute, another pod was coming up. Sonic runs up to it, checking around for safety. "Come on, let's take care of this already." Sonic says to Blaze as she gets up to it as well.

"Eh heh heh, time to get these two out of our hair."

Suddenly, the pod makes a beeping noise, it detonates itself, making a large distortion. "Whoah!" Sonic shouts from being caught off guard.

Eggman Nega flies over in his Eggmobile, "I don't have long to explain this so let's make it quick, you two are being catapulted out of this realm into your dimensions again, I don't know where and frankly don't care. With you two out of the way we can finish our work. Ta ta meddlers."

Sonic and Blaze are suddenly slung towards the dimensional tears in the sky. "Darn it," Sonic pulls out the fake emerald from earlier, "Blaze hold on! Please work…" Sonic manages to Chaos Control to Blaze's side, the Emerald however shatters in his hand. The momentum still throws him into Blaze, in which they both go through the same tear.

"Finally, something goes right. Nega to Eggman, back to work."

* * *

Stage 5; Act 2:

Sonic and Blaze are on a beach, laying in the sand unconscious. Sonic wakes up a little, "Ugh, well that could have gone better…"

"Sonic…"

"Huh?" Sonic shakes his head, a little sand out of his ear.

"Get off me, this instant."

Sonic quickly jumps up, "Sorry, sorry, wasn't on purpose!"

Blaze gets herself up, "You just have the most graceful of landings don't you."

"Hey! You're the cat, not me." Sonic grumbles, "I tend to have bad luck with that…"

"Well it seems to be rubbing off."

Suddenly, someone jumps out of a nearby palm tree, Sonic get's hit on the head with a stick. "Ow!" Sonic rubs his head, looking around, "Who did that?!"

"Oi! Where did you two wankas come from?!"

Sonic looks at a little red raccoon, "Wait, Marine?"

Marine, drops her stick, "Sonic, Blaze? What're you blokes doin' 'ere?!"

"Oh, Marine." Blaze interjects, "Interesting our paths cross again. As i'm sure you can assume, Sonic's being here means there's a problem afoot. So we don't have much time to reunion. So-"

"Rippah! I missed 'avin' y'all around! Come on back to the pad, stay a while. Y'all must be tired." Marine walks off, expecting them to follow.

Sonic looks at Blaze, "Were you really expecting anything else?"

"I had to try didn't I?"

"Come on, let's take her up on it. We have to think about what just happened anyway."

"I suppose you're right."

"C'mon you blokes! Don't keep me waitin'!"

Sonic glares in Marine's direction, "Gosh she doesn't give up." Sonic and Blaze follow her to the familiar cabin.

Upon reaching the cabin, Marine leaves them alone to check on her boats.

"Why did you find it necessary to follow me?" Blaze asks.

"Well that's an odd question. It seemed like a good idea at the time."

"How did you even do it then?"

"I kept one of the fake emeralds, it had enough energy for me to Chaos Control. Look it was important that we stayed together so we could stay on the same page about the situation."

Blaze just looks out of the window, arms crossed.

"Okay, what, did you not want me around?"

"We were having a disagreement, I thought you'd rather go your own way at that point."

"I see you're making assumptions again, look, we need to, not, be having arguments right now." Sonic sits down across from her, "We're back in your dimension, isn't that a little comforting?"

"I suppose it is. But it pains me that there is an imminent threat and there is no way to stop it at this current time. In fact you said yourself you care about everyone, aren't you acting a little too relaxed if that is really true?"

"I-... Uh." Sonic stuttered, not giving a straight answer.

At that moment, Marine walks back in, "Howdy-do love birds, so what'd I miss that's got the dimensions in a tizzy?"

Both of them looked at her surprised, "E-Excuse me?!" Blaze says shocked, getting red in the face.

"Where did you get that idea?!" Sonic says, getting up out of his chair.

"What? It's obvious mate, I saw you two on the beach. Now I may not know what happened between now and last time, but I saw what I saw."

"That was simply an accident, nothing more." Blaze says, trying to shrug it off.

"Exactly, don't go making assumptions now." Sonic then turns away from both Blaze and Marine.

"Gosh, this is more kickback then an angry mule. Fine then, I'm wrong. But can ya blame me? What would ya think it looked like?" Marine says, not seeing the problem in all of this.

Blaze changes the subject, "To answer your question, there seems to be a rift between worlds that both doctors are working in, we were there as well until we were forcibly thrown into this dimension. I can't tell if our coming here was lucky or quite the opposite."

"Jinkies, any idea what they're doin'?"

"None at all."

Sonic, tapping his foot, goes to the door, "Sorry, I need to take a run now." And runs off without another word.

Marine looks confused, "Well what's got him? Did I say something?"

Blaze simply runs out as well.

"Well… I guess those two just need to get out for a bit. Maybe i'll go check on the Coconut Crew. Those blokes need my help sometimes y'know?" Marine finishes talking to herself and heads out of the cabin.

Later, Blaze catches up with Sonic, sitting over a seaside cliff, "Um, Sonic. Am I welcome?"

"Oh, yeah it's fine." Sonic says to her.

"I'm sorry for Marine's sake, that was rather awkward for the both of us." Blaze says to Sonic, sitting down as well.

"Why do you think I left? That's something I didn't want to deal with for longer than I had to."

"Well it wasn't true wasn't it?"

"Of course not, but either way that's just one of those things where I needed to separate myself. Unfortunately, her big mouth just doesn't keep things to herself." Sonic throws a rock off the side in frustration.

"I say, this is the most worked up i've ever seen you."

"Doesn't happen much." He says, tapping his feet together off the side.

"Sonic, I have a bit of a confession to make."

"What's that?"

"I do not particularly like being a princess, after I met you for the first time, I understood that there was more to life than just sitting in a chair half the day and watching some stones the next. I, don't think I ever really expressed my pleasure in seeing you for a second time, back when Whiskers and Johnny were trying to steal the jeweled scepter for the Eggmen. On top of it all I must apologize for being so irritable, it was never really directed at you. Just my frustration asserting itself."

"Well, that means a lot actually. I always like hearing that I made a good impact on someone's life. And, apology accepted. I know you didn't really mean it." Sonic then took a deep sigh, "But now what? We aren't in a very good position right now."

"Correct, we have no idea what they are doing, and it has become that much harder for us to find out. But, for now, we have to focus on a way to get back there."

"Yeah, the question is, how…?"


	6. Stage 6

Stage 6; Act 1:

The following morning, Sonic could be found sleeping in a tree near Marine's cabin. The branches shading his eyes from the rising sun. Marine walks up to the tree, seeing Sonic resting among the branches. "RISE AND SHINE BLUE BLOKE!" She shouts.

Sonic wakes up in a panic, falling out onto the ground beneath him.

"Marine dear," Blaze speaks to her from a window inside the cabin, rudely awoken by her shouting as well, "Please be more considerate of others. If we require an alarm clock we'll inform you…" Blaze steps back away from the window again.

"Oh, sorry mate. I get ya." Marine apologizes, heading back inside.

Sonic pushes himself up, "Sure, apologize to her, not to me," He shakes his head, "thanks kiddo." Sonic then heads inside as well, "Hey Blaze, you ready? We have a lot to do."

Blaze steps out into the main room, in the middle of putting her fur back up. "Yes, whenever we plan on getting started."

"Now hold up just a tick," Marine interjects, "Don't you suppose you want some morning sustenance first? Can't go savin' the world on an empty stomach ya know."

Their stomachs simultaneously growled at the thought, they share an embarrassed look.

"Told ya, captain knows best. Now you two just sit yerselves down, i'll take care of it. I do it for myself all the time." Marine then heads outside.

"Eheheh," Sonic chuckled, "Didn't even think about it until now."

"Likewise, I suppose we can use this time to devise our plan." Blaze says, sitting down.

"Yeah, like the big one being, where do we start?"

"I know for a fact a tear opened at my castle, but heading back there could be complicated."

"How so?"

"It is on the other side of the planet, traveling there by boat, which is our only method would take weeks. Weeks we don't have."

"But it might be a good idea to head that way anyway, so in case we don't find any other chances."

"Hmm, you're right." Blaze ponders, "That would be the best thing to do." She glances outside, "But that would leave a lot of time for the doctors to do as they wish."

"Yeah, that is a little bit of a problem. But it's the best we can do right now."

"I feel as impatient as you, I want to get back in there and stop them as soon as possible."

"Well you're a speed person like me, it kind of comes naturally."

"But, Sonic. I don't normally act like this, you know this yourself."

"Fair point. You occupation probably requires that out of you."

"Probably? You have no idea."

Sonic then heads outside.

"And where are you off to?"

"The conversation just got me in the mood for something, I won't be long."

"You say that now."

Sonic chuckles and leaves.

Blaze is left alone in the room, watching the skies as she thinks to herself, _Eggman Nega, what could you possibly be doing this time… It's killing me that I don't know._

* * *

Stage 6; Act 2:

Blaze later was looking for Sonic, Marine had finished and seeing Sonic not there waiting, asked Blaze to go find him. Returning to the clearing near the view of the sea where they had been the preceding night, she finds him holding onto something unique. "Sonic, there you are. Marine requested me to find you… What is that you have there?"

Sonic turns to face her, "Oh this? Well, it's a sword." Specifically a wood carving of the one he had some time ago, "I know i'm not entirely for fighting physically, more for just running and wrecking egghead's stuff. But when I had that adventure in the tale of knights I can't help but remember enjoying using these. It was something different, and exciting for me."

"Knowing you I wouldn't doubt that's why. But why now?"

"I dunno, your being that of royalty just kept reminding me of that… And by deduction the fact you had an alter ego there."

"Yes I remember you telling me of that. I hope I provided a challenge."

Sonic smiled, "Oh yes you did, but…" He tosses her another carving like his own, "How about you find that out for yourself."

Blaze surprisedly grabs it from the air, "Wh-What are you trying to do, I'm not actually her. I've never even handled one of these."

"I dunno, something tells me you'd do better than you think. Come on, have some fun for once."

"Sonic, I am trying to bring you back, remember."

"Come on, it won't take that long if you really aren't good with it."

Blaze clenched the grip a little, "Fine, i'll entertain you for now. But this is the only time."

"Sweet!" Sonic says, getting into his old fighting stance, "Do your best Blaze."

"Don't blame me if I disappoint you." Blaze tightly holds onto her blade, she goes in to strike but Sonic knocks her arm far off.

"Don't grip it so tightly. Try it again."

"Hmph, I told you I was nothing like my avatar." She heads in again, keeping a steadier form. Pretty soon she starts to get into the swing of it all without even realizing.

"Now this is more like it!" Sonic jumps over her head, and starts to push her back from the other side. "You think you don't do well, just look at yourself now! I can't even get to you."

"Well it doesn't entirely help that what you gave me is so bulky, if I were to do this it would certainly not be like this one."

"What a coincidence." Sonic manages to push Blaze all the way against the cliff side before he stops.

Blaze looks at him, "I suppose that means I were to lose?"

"Not by much though, believe it or not but i'd say you have some talent there."

"Perhaps, but as I said, just this once. Now may we go? She says, starting to push him out of the way, when the edge she standing on crumbles, causing her to slip off.

Sonic jumps down with her, grabbing her wrist and stabbing his make-shift sword into the the cliff face. "Well isn't this a sense of deja-vu."

"I wouldn't know, now would I?"

"Hmm, pretty sure my sword said something like, 'Save the hugs and kisses for later.'"

Blaze blushed a little, "Oh shut up! Quit playing around and get me up from here!"

"No need to get snappy." He throws Blaze back onto the top, then flips, jumping off the protruding part of his sword, causing it to break off. "There, back to safety. Happy now?"

"You must think you're so funny for that."

Sonic snickered, "Hilarious."

Blaze shook her head a little, "Come on, Marine is waiting."


	7. Stage 7

Stage 7; Act 1:

Soon afterwards, Sonic, Blaze, and Marine had gone aboard their boat, and set sail for Blaze's home, in search of a way back to the dimensional fissure. Unfortunately, in the middle of the high seas, raging storms, influenced by the unnatural dimensional tears began ravaging the ship. The waves becoming so much, that their ship can barely make any distance until it passes. Blaze is below deck and Sonic soon comes down with her, "Marine swears by the book she can handle herself out there at the wheel."

"I hope she can, while neither of us are partial to water, I would still operate the ship for her if I had to in this weather." Blaze replies to Sonic.

"Well I would too, but i'm confident in her."

"At least one of us is, she never exactly proved her worth on our last adventure."

"Well, you're not wrong about that, I guess." Sonic says, admittedly concerned. The raging storm outside causing waves as large as their ship crashing into each other and the bulkhead of the boat itself. A large current crashes against the ship, Marine loses her footing, making her fall onto the floor. The ship makes a bank turn, unaware, Blaze stumbles from the sudden change and falls back into Sonic, who catches her breaking her fall but not preventing them both from falling back into the wall of their current shelter. Marine manages to right herself and continue on their course through the ocean's wrath. "Whoa, you okay there Blaze?" Sonic asks her, holding her steady.

"Yes, I am not damaged…" Blaze replies, rubbing her head. Sonic attempts to stand her back up but she protests, "No!" She cuts herself off, "I do not think it is a good idea, I suggest we, stay how we are until the storm clears. So not to risk any further mishaps." She leans back on Sonic as if to insist, whilst hiding her true intention of her suggestion.

Sonic was puzzled for a moment, but saw through her white lie, "Alright then, I'll stay sense that's what you want." Complying with her.

Blaze hides a moment of surprise, realizing that Sonic knew what she was doing, but took comfort that he didn't protest.

It was morning by the time the storm cleared, the two of them were fast asleep against the wall as they were when the storm started. This peace only lasted so long as they were both rudely awoken by a shouting raccoon up top.

"Ugh… Who needs an alarm clock when you've got Marine?" Sonic says, sarcastically.

"At least this is a generous hour compared to back home." Blaze replies, stretching out her arms. She looks back at Sonic for a moment, but then they both look a way. "Um, thank you, for, earlier Sonic."

"It's not a problem Blaze, really…" Sonic replies hesitantly.

The two look at each other again, "Sonic," Blaze speaks up finally, "I'm sorry if, what I did seemed sudden, just… I'm having, revelations that, I need to process. I hope you can understand that, yes it is what it looks like, but I don't know if i'm to go through with it." She looks away again as she proceeds to return to her feet.

Sonic simply smiles, "I was wondering when you'd get around to saying something." He gets up, putting a hand on Blaze's shoulder, "I'll be here when you make your decision." He lets go and starts walking towards the deck, "You could say I've already made mine."

Blaze watches him exit with a sense of awe, she looks around, without any reason, the back to the door to the outside, "Did he just… Does he mean what I think he does?" She shakes her head, recomposing herself, but with a smile bigger than any she's had before. "I think I know what my decision is now. But saving our worlds comes first." She says, heading out onto the deck of the ship, with bright sun in the sky showing for a bright future ahead.

* * *

Stage 7; Act 2:

Sonic can be seen sleeping on the crow's nest on top of the ship's main mast. The sun reflecting off of the ocean's wake. However, the peaceful day following the storm gets rudely interrupted for Sonic, as he is awoken by a banging on the mast.

"'Oy mate! Get yer spiny rump down 'ere! Your captain needs her crew on deck ya hear?!"

Sonic grumbles, "What the he- OW!" His head hitting against the mast.

Blaze walks up to Marine, "Marine, please. Allow me, you're not going to get him down like that." Blaze begins to quickly climb the mast with her feline agility, climbing into the crow's nest at the top. "Come on Sonic, you can have your nap later." She says, lightly pushing Sonic's shoulder.

"What does she even need me for?" Sonic replies to her, rubbing his head.

"Like I would know, but it would be best for us all to be aware of our surroundings as long as we can."

Sonic sits up, "You're hard to say no to, you know that?"

"And for being so hyper, you can be so lazy."

"Thank you!" Sonic says with a snarky attitude, sliding his way down the pole. Blaze following him down.

"Finally!" Marine says, "About time ya got down. Listen, we're only a few hours away, so you better be in the tip of the top when we get there!"

Sonic seemed disappointed, "A few hours? You woke me up, just for that?"

Blaze put a hand on his shoulder, "Sonic you can't possibly spend all your time napping."

"Of course not, but I can't exactly run here can I?" Sonic looks at her, asking rhetorically.

"Never mind," Blaze replies, "Dumb question, dumb answer."

"Hey!" Sonic exclaimed, "You saying i'm dumb?"

"Heavens no!" Blaze remarks, "Why would I ever say such a thing?"

"I know," Sonic replies, "I'm just testing you."

"Testing me…? Oh why you little-" Sonic had already ran off hiding below deck. "Sonic when we get off this boat I swear upon sol you are mine!"

Sonic was chuckling below deck, "We'll see Blaze."

After reaching shore on the castle peninsula, Marine and Blaze left the boat, with Blaze pulling Sonic by his ear. "Ow ow ow ow ow!"

"You had this coming for a while Sonic, quit complaining."

"Now is hardly the time Princess!"

"Say that again, I dare you!"  
"Can you two blokes quit arguing for just a tick? Look!" Marine says to them, pointing at the castle, the chasm that sent Blaze to the void before had grown to the point of nearly swallowing the whole keep, continuing to crumble into the emptiness.  
"Dear sol…" Blaze says, "Why is this happening?"

Sonic gets beside her, "We already know why, Eggduo. Problem is, how can we stop it?"

"We must return to the white void Sonic, we've got to stop what their planning. If there's anyway to stop it that has to be how."

"Well then let's hurry. Marine?"

"Yeah, mate?"

"Take care of yourself here." Sonic nods to Blaze and the two run to the castle.

"Oy! Don't leave me again so soon!" Marine slouched over, "Blokes…"

"Hey Sonic." Blaze says to him.

"Huh?" Sonic looks at her, "What is it?"

"If and when we get out of this. I owe you some down time, I doubt we'll get another chance if this ends like all the other times." Blaze replies with a strange expression.

Sonic looks a little flustered, "Heh, you're right. We probably won't. But Blaze."

"Yes Sonic?"

"Are you sure?"

"The flames of my heart for once in my life points me to someone. I couldn't be more sure."

Before Sonic could respond to that, Blaze took his hand and jumped into the chasm with him, into the white void once again.


	8. Stage 8

Stage 8; Act 1

Sonic and Blaze once again within the white void. The portions of Blaze's castle that traveled through are now rubble and broken. The whole scene still is not the focus as the pressure the void exerts is far too forthcoming to worry about it.

"Everything I have ever worked for will crumble if we do not stop them now." Blaze says to herself aloud. "Let's go Sonic."

"Right!" Sonic replies swiftly, and quickly the two go in chase of the Eggmen's base.

Once Sonic and Blaze reach the barrier, they follow along it until the field the base. An Egg-Shaped structure that bridges both sides of the void. Blaze uses her pyrokenetic abilities to burn through the steel bulkhead and into the structure. An alarm blares and the two decide to split up to cover more ground. Sonic, running through the corridors, thrashing robots left and right finally finds a large room with large generators inside. Knowing that this had to be what was powering the barrier, Sonic's progress was quickly impeded by A large mech coming up from the floor.

Blaze too was searching through the station quickly but was having much less luck, the mass of robots swarming her was becoming overwhelming. "Damn, Nega must have been expecting me." Blaze was having to resort to hand-to-hand fighting, "These robots are fire retardant, if I don't get out of this mess quick…" Blaze causes a fire wall to burst out from her, pushing the machines away long enough for her to run away, however, her attempts were in vain as the corridor seals itself off at both ends. Looking around in a bit of a panic, she begins to try and burn through, but the now sealed room begins to be flooded with water, preventing her fire from affecting anything as the water level rises. "D-Damn it!" Treading water only will only work for so long, as the water is quickly rising towards the sealing. Just as when she thinks it's all over, a hole opens in the sealing, pulling her inside. She screams but in the midst of the darkness, she gets an injection, causing her to lose focus. In her foggy state of mind she hears a voice, "Yes… With her we'll be able to create, 'it.'" The voice gets quieter, chuckling as it leaves. "Egg… man…"

Meanwhile Sonic manages to knock down the mech in the power room. About to turn his focus to the generators he hears a voice through an intercom. "Sonic, this is Doctor Eggman. We have your partner hostage. You will cease this immediately, or face the consequences."

Sonic looks around for the source and replies, "Oh yeah? And what makes me believe you captured Blaze? She's way too resilient for you two Eggheads."

Eggman Nega comes on the intercom, "Because Sonic, we both know that's a gamble you're not going to risk."

Sonic simply crosses his arms, "Darn it… I hate it when they know me." Sonic sees a light on the ground leading out of the room, and decides to follow it. The end of the line lead him to a large empty room. A opening forms in the ceiling near him, where Blaze gets dropped from, at the same time the room seals itself off. The room is almost pitch black but Sonic still manages to help Blaze onto her feet. "Hey, what happened?"

"I don't know," Blaze replies, "I got trapped, flooded the corridor and nearly drowned me. I'm okay but I have no idea what they did to me."

"Allow us to enlighten you princess." Says Eggman Nega through the speakers. "Attached to your neck is an inhibitor, which has a direct link with your spinal cord and nervous system. While it is active your pyrokenesis cannot be used. If you do manage to trigger it, it has a termination function that instantly sedate you."

"In layman's terms." Cut in Eggman, "You're cut down to simple speed, just like Sonic."

Blaze angrily retorts, "So what?! You think removing my flames will allow you to win?"

"Not defeat you, or Sonic." Replies Eggman, "But keep you both busy enough for our plan to complete itself. You see, neither you or Sonic can cut your way through the bulkhead of this room, and we have a little surprise for you both."

A pair of red lights fade into brightness ahead of Sonic and Blaze, the lights of the room gradually come on to reveal a metallic figure, blue in color.

"Metal Sonic?!" Sonic says, then stepping forward into a guarding stance, "What is he doing here?"

"Sonic, look! Behind him!" Blaze says, pointing in his direction, another pair of lights step out from behind Metal Sonic, when the lights come on completely in the room, the object is revealed, a metallic figure, with similar stature to Metal Sonic, a light purple color tone, and the same black eyes and red centers. Upon realization, a gasp came upon both Sonic and Blaze. "Is that a…"

"It is… No way!"

* * *

Stage 8; Act 2:

"What you see before you is the culmination of our combined genius!" Dr. Eggman's voice carrying through the room, "Hyper Metal Blaze is our newest creation! We managed to sedate Blaze when she was alone, so we could use her as the foundation of Metal Blaze's functionalities. Complete with fire retardant plating, central mounted jet engine, capable of mach 5, comparable to Metal Sonic's, and above all, a carbon copy of all of Blaze's techniques and fighting styles."

Sonic chuckles, "You faked me once, what happened? You faked me twice, what happened? You faked me three and four times! What happened?! I won every time, so what do you do? You fake her in hopes the result will be different. I may not be a genius but that's a sign of insanity right there."

"Silence!" Eggman shouts, "You'll have to beat your robotic counterparts in a timely fashion, or you won't be able to put a stop to our scheme! OH HO HO HO HO!"

"Eggman you fool!" Blaze says, stepping in front of Sonic, "Your plans of merging the dimensions will never work! Even if you do succeed, the world will be too chaotic. It'll be a scorched world! The two sets of emeralds constantly polarized against each other will make it impossible for anyone to survive the result, not even you!"

Metal Sonic dashes into Sonic, slamming him into the wall behind. Blaze looks behind her, but then hears her own counterpart coming for her, just barely avoiding being caught off guard.

Eggman turns to Eggman Nega, "It's time we start it." Nega nods in agreement, Eggman faces the bots at the control panels, "Begin acceleration procedures! Increase merger rate by 150%!"

 _Acceleration Procedures Initiating._

 _Merger Rate Increasing._

 _Warning, Protection Field Destabilizing._

 _Merger Rate Up 70%._

 _Identifying Possible Results For Generation of, "Eternal Light."_

 _Results Found, Fifteen Favorable Results Determined. Forging World Seed D96502AG56P2-1._

 _Merger Stabilizing, Rate Increased To 110%._

 _World Seed Formatted, 96% Match To Most Favorable Result._

"Soon, soon our beautiful world will be realized. The soon to be known as Eternal Light is something spoken of in hieroglyphics of both our worlds. Legends of a world that was similar to our own that if came together, great things would become."

"We, the mighty Eggmen," Continued Nega, "Shall create this new world, and dominate it with our iron fists!"

 _Merger Rate Increased To 150%! Merger Lock Engaged._


	9. Stage 9

Stage 9; Act 1:

"I don't understand it… Sonic wouldn't just disappear out of nowhere." Tails says to himself, working away at his computer database. The lonely workshop devoid of anyone apart from himself only returns silence as a reply. Suddenly a door bursting open interrupts his pondering.

"Tails!" It was Knuckles, with urgency in his voice, "Get out here quick! You have to see what's happening!"

"What? What's going on Knuckles?"

"Everything is falling apart! It's like the whole world is crumbling!"

Tails quickly gets up from his seat and heads outside with Knuckles to witness what could only be described as a nightmare. Giant chasms to the white void opening all over the the plains beneath the cliff that Tails' workshop sits upon. "What, what is this?"

"I don't know, I was on Angel Island at the time, and then saw through the Master Emerald that these holes were opening all over the world."

Tails looks to Knuckles, "Is your Island still untouched by all this?"

"Of course it is, why?"

"Get everyone we can onto the island as soon as possible. If this is dangerous, we have an entire world to save!"

"But what about Sonic?"

"We don't have time anymore. Sonic can handle himself, whatever he's gotten himself into. We're gonna have to do this without him."

"Alright then, let's get to work."

Hours go by, night has fallen. Angel Island is crowded with inhabitants of Mobius. Angel Island remains untouched by the strange phenomena engulfing the world.

"Hey Knuckles," Said Tails, coming up to him, "you think it's possible to, I dunno, get the Master Emerald to protect the island?"

Knuckles glances to him, "I think it already is, which is confusing at best. Normally the emerald won't act on it's own."

"Well," Tails pauses from slight embarrassment. "I honestly have no idea what's happening here… I, I feel like I should but, nothing's making sense. I don't have the time nor resources to learn about it and just… Ugh!"

"Tails calm down, understand you like to have an explanation for everything but as you said, we don't have time to ask what or why, we just need to find out how, and stop it."

"GAGH!" Meanwhile in the facility in the white void. Sonic and Blaze are unfortunately too busy to do anything about the situation at hand as they intended. The Metal versions of themselves are proving too trying for them to beat easily. With the lack of Blaze's pyrokinesis her robotic counterpart is much more troublesome, and all Sonic's attacks are proved pointless with Metal Sonic's ability, Obsidian Barrier.

 _Error: Unexpected Contingency Detected._

"What's this?" Eggman says, looking at the computer.

 _All seven Sol Emeralds detected in the white limbo. Cannot proceed with merger operations._

"What?! I can't believe this!" Eggman pounds his fist on the operating panel. "Nega, the Sol Emeralds are your prerogative. You go find them, i'll do what I can here." Eggman Nega nods in agreement and leaves the room. Then the computer blares another error.

 _Error: Unexpected Contingency Detected._

"What now you stupid machine?" Eggman shouts with clear frustration.

 _Master Emerald of Chaos Universe Preventing Total Conversion. The Gem is Protecting an Area Roughly 100 Kilometers Above Sea Level, Estimated to Be The Size of An Island Continent._

"Curse that echidna!" Eggman says angrily, then ponders a moment, "He's probably doing so without even realizing what's happening. I'll just steal the Master Emerald, if it's in the void with us it can't do anything about Mobius at all! That's it! Brilliant!" Eggman then heads out of the room to his Eggmobile, laughing maniacally all the while.

* * *

Stage 9; Act 2:

Sonic and Blaze continue to struggle with their robotic foes in the sealed room. Blaze attempts to strike her metallic version only to miss barely. In which the machine grabs her, and throws her into the wall of the room. "Blaze!" Sonic shouts with concern but is unable to assist with Metal Sonic being too much of a pest for him. Blaze manages to sit back upright, feeling the back of her head. Then to her surprise when she slides her hand down her neck she notices that the implant she received has cracked, and appears to be dysfunctional without being fatal to her. The sudden restoration of her powers sends a rush of adrenaline through her, she quickly gets to her feet and performs Burning Spin, slamming right into her metal counterpart. She tarnishes it to the point of it deactivating and then some, she stops spinning, grabbing the hulk of metal.

"I suppose this even the score, you mechanical doppelganger." And she throws the metal body off to the side in the same manner that it did to her. Sonic is surprised by Blaze's sudden ferocity but is too busy with Metal Sonic to give any input. Blaze jumps Metal Sonic, kicking him in the head. Sonic quickly recovers, sweeping Metal's feet. Sonic and Blaze in sync kick Metal away, then dash side by side into him. They stop past Metal, now standing in place, spazzing and sparking. He falls over, and with that, the skirmish is over.

"Phew!" Sonic says, relieved, "Thanks for the help there. I can usually take him myself, but that requires space to work with. Awesome teamwork!"

Blaze simply smiles as response. The room unseals itself, but strangely to the heroes there is no antagonizing quips from the Eggmen. Sonic and Blaze hastily head to the control room to see, no one there. Blaze sees a screen with a countdown, but to her dismay, "Oh no, they've locked the program, we can't disable it from here."

"And the Eggmen aren't here to force them to reverse it." Sonic said tapping his foot.

"Undoubtedly wherever they went they'll come back. We should hide, and then jump them when they come back."

"That's a brilliant idea!" Sonic then realized, "But I hate waiting…"

"Oh be patient for once, when this is all over you'll feel good that you did."

"Well what's that supposed to mean?" Sonic inquires of her.

Blaze slightly chuckles, "You'll find out."

Sonic thinks to himself, _She's really opened up since that time we first met. This may actually work out for- oh… When we put an end to all this she'll have to leave again._ Sonic shakes his head, _It's for the best i'm sure._

Eggman in his pod was flying above Angel Island, fully prepared to deal with Knuckles, except he notices something. "What's this? The echidna is near the shore of the island?" He chuckles to himself evilly, "Perfect…" Unseen, Eggman taking a wide flight path around the shore Knuckles is on to the shrine on the island. Using a hook and chain mounted to the bottom of his craft, grabs the emerald, and begins to fly away. Suddenly the whole island shutters as now that the emerald has been removed from it's rightful place, the entire Angel Island begins to fall toward what would be the ocean, but instead, the dimensional tears consuming the world around them had opened up a tear large enough to consume the island entirely if it were to hit sea level. Knuckles becomes aware of the Master Emerald's tampering instantly, and quickly goes in chase to find out what's happened. Tails following suit. They find eggman flying away as he's just about to leave the island in his pod.

"Hey! Eggman! Bring that back here!" Knuckles shouts.

"Sorry, but i'm afraid I can't do that. Don't worry, everyone will understand soon enough." He laughs maniacally and flies quickly away.

"Damn, I should've stayed at the shrine…" Knuckles said in defeat.

"It's not all bad, one of my Tornado mechs is still here right?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

Before he answers, Tails flies off to go retrieve it.

"H-Hey!" Knuckles stutters while shouting, "Wait up!" Knuckles chases after.


	10. Stage 10

Stage 10; Act 1:  
Eggman has returned to the base, the numerous machines retrieve the Master Emerald and go off to isolate it. He returns to the control room, checking progress on his monitor. This gets interrupted when to his dismay he finds the robots have been defeated and the room empty. "What?! Where are they?! Computer, locate the hedgehog and the princess now!"

"'Fraid that won't be needed Egghead."

"Wha-?! Sonic!"

"It's over Eggman, we have you cornered. Now reverse the process immediately!"

"B-Blaze!"

The two heroes slowly close in on him, "Listen Egghead, you can't take us both just by yourself." Sonic says.

"If you want to get away from this unharmed, cut it off." Blaze adds in.

"I-I wish I could! It's just not possible. The inertia created by the rapid merger is irreversible!"

"Then you better find a way Eggman." Sonic glares straight into his eyes, "I don't think you understand just what will happen if the worlds come together."

Eggman slightly laughs, "Like you have any better of an idea."

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

"Allow me to explain then."

Sonic steps back a little, "Fine then."

"You see, back on our first endeavor at Angel Island, I discovered a room deep in the ruins that was sealed off long before much of the temple was ever built. I had used a seismic scanner to read the hieroglyphics inside, but the text was even older than what is still remaining exposed today, so I couldn't translate it quickly. So I decided to leave it alone. But recently, I was running out of ideas on what evil plans to do, and I stumbled across that file. I got to translating, and what I found surprised me." Eggman then pulls up a plethora of images on the screen.

Blaze steps closer to it, "This… Is this really…?"

Eggman Nega finally returns, seeing his colleague in trouble, without announcing himself he takes a blaster off his belt and aims it at Sonic. The near silent click of the trigger can still be picked up by Blaze however, she turns around to see him. He fires at Sonic and all Blaze has time to do would be unthinkable, but she thought it. "SONIC!" She shouts to get his attention, and leaps in his way. Sonic can only look in shock as the projectile strikes Blaze instead of him.

Tails climbs into his Tornado mech, starting it up. "Hey, Knuckles. The Chaos Emeralds are on the island right?"

"Yeah, what about?

"Maybe you can use them in place of the Master Emerald to keep the island up."

"That'd be difficult but it's worth a try."

"Then do it, I have my own idea." The mech engine revs up and he flies off with it. Tails goes down to the underside of the island, transforms the mech and uses its arms to grab the bottom of the island. Tails sets his thrusters to maximum and starts to push up against Angel Island. "Hope this helps keep everyone safe!"

* * *

Stage 10; Act 2:

Sonic stands aghast, quaking in his shoes. He falls to his knees, tears begin to stream down his face. Something snaps, he slams his fist into the metal floor which effortlessly folds to his anger. Eggman staggers over to the computer panel. "Quick! Trap him!" Energy emitters sprout and bind Sonic still. He's shaking, grunting and struggling against it. His eyes shut tightly, he seems to stop trying aside from a grunt or two. Then it happens, systems start blaring, alarms going off everywhere. Eggman checks the computer, "The dimension border is collapsing, the artificial emerald's power is fluctuating!"

Eggman Nega then adds to it, "All their power is being fed into the central facility from the nodes!"

Sonic breaks free of the emitters, his head thrown back, his eyes wide and blank. "Hng. Gh… Ghghgh… Grrrr… GRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" He erupts into a loud cry. The tears on his face would fly into the air once they leave his cheeks. The darker energies produced by the artificial emeralds could be visually seen entering his body and compressing down to a pure, raw, power. The barrier between worlds grows dark, then to black, and shatters, opening the floodgates between the two. A beacon of dark energy erupts from the Eggmen's operation station. A beacon which could be witnessed from both dimensions' worlds. The very roof of the facility peels away from the raw power exerted by one being. When the energy finally calms, a pitch black being is floating mere inches off the ground, fists clenched, eyes sharp, but blank and white as a pearl.

"Th-This form!" Eggman would stutter, "The artificial emeralds must have a strange reaction to strong emotion!"

"How many did you make for the barrier system?!" Eggman Nega asks urgently.

"T-Twenty, no, thirty! More even!"

Sonic lands his feet on the floor, putting his palm towards the two doctors. "Disappear." An energy flare erupts from his hand swallowing up anything in front of him. What's left is smoldering metal seams and ash. One thing that remains is the stolen Master Emerald. The emerald glows brightly and suddenly Sonic becomes aware of himself. He looks back and sees Blaze behind him and his green eyes fade back into prominence. He picks her up off the floor and carries her over to the Master Emerald. As he does so his form slowly transforms itself to normal, with his energies leaking out of his body into the world around him without the ability to focus it any more. Blaze finally awakes in his arms, and as she regains clear vision Sonic changes back to normal completely. He then stands Blaze back on her feet. "Are you okay Blaze?"

"Yes," she replies, "I'm fine now."

"Hehe," Sonic chuckles with a smiles on his face, then, "Wait a sec, I feel another power source, like the Master Emerald."

"You're right, I feel it too."

Sonic notices that the Master Emerald is glowing in response. He picks it off the ground and carries it, using the rate at which it flashes it's glow to find the other power source. "What the- It's another Master Emerald?!" They find another gem, comparable in size to their own Master Emerald, it too is flashing it's glow, but it's different, it's red.

Blaze steps up to it in awe, "I've never seen this before. It makes sense that one exists, but how have I never known about it before?" She places her hand upon it and begins to glow brightly, "H-Huh?!"

The Master Emerald in Sonic's hands begins to glow just as bright, brighter and brighter until they both become blinding. Everywhere around them becomes enveloped in the blinding light until nothing can be seen.

"Knuckles! I'm running out of power here!" Tails shouts, his mech straining under the weight of the entire Angel Island.

"I'm having trouble holding this myself! The Chaos Emeralds just aren't powerful enough!"

Their efforts come to a halt as a blinding flash explodes out from the white chasm beneath them. Everything goes white, they lose feeling. Nothing left. Everything vanished.


	11. Stage Final

Stage Final:

It's a peaceful sunlit day, a calm breeze, and the natural band of bird chirps play in the trees. The blue speed demon sees all this on returning to consciousness and is nothing short of confused. He looks around, seeing Tails, Knuckles, and Blaze waking up around him. Jumping to his feet he begins to question, "I may not be the sharpest needle in the haystack, but last time I checked everything disappeared!"

Knuckles sits up holding his head, "Well, found Sonic…"

"Well done captain obvious, what's your first hint?" Sonic snarks at him.

"HEY!"

"Oh, shut up you two…" Blaze says slightly annoyed.

"Hehehe… Sorry Blaze." Sonic replies scratching the back of his head.

"If she didn't say it I would have…" Tails says under his breath.

"Welcome back to reality." A strange voice says, making everyone look to a shrine. A top it was a strange gem. Half green, half red, split straight down the middle.

"Wh-What in the world?" Knuckles says, "Is that the Master Emerald?!"

"Excellent hypothesis Knuckles, and to a certain extent you would be correct."

"Then what are you?" Sonic asks, stepping up closer.

"I am the merged form of your Master Emerald, and the Sol Dimension's Master Emerald. I'm sure all of you are curious as to what has happened, allow me to explain it all." The voice pauses, presenting a visual representation of a black void and seven different colored spheres. "The Sol Dimension and the Chaos Dimension are merely two parallel universes in a single multiverse. In total, there are seven. Chaos, Sol, Luz, Dun, Eclipse, Harmony, and Spirit. But these seven dimensions were not always seven, they, at one time, existed as one." Then before everyone appears the vision of a radiant, silver Master Emerald, and seven silver gems of different shapes circulating around it. "This dimension had it's own Master Emerald, and it's own set of emeralds known as The Crown Emeralds. But an evil, omnipresent being came into life one fateful day, and the only way to prevent it's destruction of our world was to separate it into seven. And such, the seven dimensions were formed from the seven aspects of life. The Master Emerald split into seven versions of itself, each a different color. And the Crown Emeralds each split into their own set of seven, dictated by their original shape. That is why your Chaos Emeralds and your Sol Emeralds are different yet so similar."

Tails interjects, "That's a great explanation and all, but what's that all mean about where we are now?"

"Excellent question young one. You see, the Chaos Emeralds and the Sol Emeralds, as well as any other set that they may come into contact with, were made to repel one another, to prevent the natural reconstitution of the Crown Dimension, so that the omnipresent being would not return. Travel between dimensions was near impossible without great power. But the meddling your two worlds' doctors did created enough de-magnetism, to allow the two Master Emeralds to merge again. The world you are in now, is the perfect merger of your two dimensions, without any negative repercussions. Your emerald sets are still separate, as the Master Emerald has not fully merged, it requires the other five in order to do so… Now that this dimension has been created, the other five may begin to start merging again. So I warn you, if the Crown Dimension were to return, you must be ready to either fend off the entity, or give up all that you have gotten in this world, and let it all reset again…" This causes everyone to look amongst each other in slight discomfort. "I will tell you all when that time may come. Until then, go, live your lives. You are in peace, enjoy what you have now been blessed with. I bid you farewell." With that, the voice fades away.

Blaze walks up close to Sonic grabbing his hands, "Do… Do you realize what this means for us?"

"So, we live in the same world now?" Sonic replies to her. After looking in each other's eyes for a moment, they share an embrace in each other's arms.

"Well, what did we miss while you were gone ey Sonic?" Knuckles asks.

"Oh, shut up Knucklehead…"

"I don't believe this…" Blaze says, "It's like a clean slate. No kingdom, no royal obligations, no boring days of seeing subjects come and go. I…" She wipes a tear from her face, "I can live normally for once in my life. And what's more, I'm not the single guardian of these gems. I… I have all of you."

"That's right Blaze, no more need to be a princess, and no more endless guarding the Sol Emeralds… Knuckles can do that for you!"

"HEY! Now you listen here you-" Knuckles' sentence gets cut off by him realizing that Sonic isn't even paying attention.

"Hey Blaze…" Sonic says to her.

"Yes?"

"While we were together in that, place, alone. I realized something." His face gets a little red, "I found that, I think that our past meetings was some kind of sign as to our future. A future that I think, we should spend together." He smiles to her, "What do you think?"

Blaze's answer was abrupt but simple, as she gives him a kiss.

"Ewww…" Tails says, looking away, "Come on guys i'm still young here."

"Come on bud, let's give them some space…" Knuckles walks off with Tails to leave Sonic and Blaze alone.

Sonic looks to Blaze with a sense of glee, "I love you Blaze."

Blaze would rest her head on his shoulder, "I love you too, you, big dummy."

The End.


End file.
